E-Investigations Provides a Case Study on How Computer Forensics can Detect Forged Email

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E-Investigations, a Houston, Texas based digital forensics firm, used special computer forensic techniques to decode separate parts of the same email to prove that a forged email was produced as the original in a recent case. The MSG file produced in the discovery phase of litigation did not find evidence of forgery; however, using specialized computer forensics software, and the knowledge of computer forensic investigators, E-Investigations was able to find multiple copies of the original text in the MSG file.

E-Investigations "Digital Forensic Experts"

"This is why it is so important to do your own investigation and not rely on opposing counsel production" Mr. Huestis went on to say.

Houston, Texas (PRWEB)May 06, 2013

E-Investigations, a digital forensics firm in Houston, Texas, provided proof through computer forensics that a forged email in a potential case involving a large energy provider. An individual claimed an energy salesperson provided a special pricing rate and forged an original email as "proof" of the claim. The salesperson from the energy company maintained that they did not offer the special rate, but the emails had already been purged from the energy company's server. This rate combined with the volume of usage amounted to several hundred thousand dollars. Using the latest in computer forensics techniques, E-Investigations was able to decode separate parts of email to find the same email encoded several different ways.

In this case, E-Investigations was provided only the MSG file. An MSG file extension is a message created or saved within Microsoft Outlook which contains multiple e-mail fields, including the date, sender, recipient, subject, and message body. The MSG file produced in the in discovery phase of the potential litigation did not find evidence of forgery; however, using specialized computer forensics software, and the knowledge of computer forensic examiners, E-Investigations was able to find multiple copies of the original text encoded in this MSG file. When viewing this MSG file in the default Microsoft outlook program, the email produced by opposing counsel only produced the special rate claimed by the user. E-Investigations was able to find multiple copies of this text proving that the email had been forged.

"I don't think opposing counsel meant to provide forged documents" said Gary Huestis, Director of Digital Forensics, with E-Investigations. "This is why it is so important to do your own investigation instead of relying on other sources, such as: law enforcement, opposing counsel, internal IT or other investigators" Mr. Huestis went on to say.

E-Investigations has the tools and experience to perform logical, physical, file system and password extraction of data from digital devices. By the incorporating the latest hardware and software technologies, E-Investigations has one of the most thorough capabilities for computer and mobile device investigations in the industry – with the ability to image thousands of computers, tablets, mobile phones, smartphones and portable GPS devices, and all major mobile OS: iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Nokia, Symbian, Windows Mobile and Palm.

E-Investigation's Computer Forensic Investigators follow the trail and decipher the information regardless of whether the evidence is digital, such as electronically stored information found on computers, tablets, mobile phones or other devices or if the investigation requires traditional private investigative services. E-Investigations' tools and techniques include surveillance, undercover work and detailed record searches. The final product helps our clients gain a deeper understanding of what has happened or what is occurring. The gained clarity and discovery of truth allows our clients to quickly respond and recover.

Gary Huestis is the Director of Digital Forensics at E-Investigations. Mr. Huestis is an EnCase certified examiner and a licensed private investigator.